CORPSE IN ARMOR

The ‘elemental thesis’ of ‘Corpse in Armor’

2010-05-13T18:38:00.003-04:00

As observed by the most dangerous man in America:

There is an elemental thesis to this book, which is that world socialism was happy to have Islamist terrorism as an ally against America. I heartily agree. This is the largest context of the book: the fact that all kinds of devils will league happily against us precisely because this country is the best thing the world ever saw. Within that context, the action runs fast and hard, but one can always find time for spots of philosophy, even during interrogation.

Among all possible readers I most wondered, and yes worried, what my two friends from the old Usenet battlespace, Beck and Mike Soja, would think about ‘Corpse.'

Neither of those lads has any patience for someone with the effrontery to waste their time, but I think that I did O.K. with them both.

I think that Billy at first dreaded the prospective enterprise of reading the book, for reasons of his own that I wouldn’t try to pry into. But he zipped through it in about a day and a half, which suggests that he succumbed to its fever pace.

I’m duly flattered. As I noted to him, I’m a remorseless layer or tosser aside of books of any kind that don’t grab hold of my attention. So as I wrote ‘Corpse’ I was determined not to let a reader get away once he or she opened the book, and it’s quite gratifying that some of the people who I think of as the really big fish in that reading ocean stayed hooked.

‘Corpse’ is here. You can read the first few pages.

The Kindle edition of 'Corpse in Armor' is coming

2010-05-08T11:21:00.003-04:00

I promise. Working on it.

'Corpse in Armor' gets another 5-Star review at Amazon

2010-04-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

I’m two for two in the reader reviews at Amazon. Kevin Prigge offers a very gracious appraisal:

This book advertises itself as “A Thriller” and it delivers! What starts out as a seemingly simple detective story unfolds into a well-crafted tale of murder, intrigue and terrorism. This is an excellent book by a first-time author, and I hope to read more from him in the future.

Damn decent of Mr. Prigge to take a moment to say that. Appreciate it.

A reader report on 'Corpse in Armor'

2010-04-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

From my neighbor, who has been afar for awhile, and who just welcomed his second grandchild into the world (congratulations, A.):

with all of the deadly serious stuff that was going on in this story, we know that there are people like the players in the book who are around and are real. but it takes a good writer to bring them to life as believable. for reading enjoyment, one of the best things that we can say about a book is that it is a page turner. we do accept the story and the people because we believe the author. ever since 9-11 when a twisted college professor compared the innocent dead to “a bunch of little eichmann’s”, the comparison had no earthly logic. with the reading of this book, one of the characters explains it. the people that went to work that day were doing a day’s work in a free country and they were a part of the free american system. in the demented professor’s mind, because they took part in the american system, that made them the very same as the system of eichmann and his world. so finally i understood the atrocious comparison. it is certainly worth reading and you can have some fun while you read it, picking out who you would like to cast when it is made into a movie. thanks for the reading pleasure,

You can take a “look inside” as Amazon puts it, and see for yourself. Click on the cover image on the upper left.

A note from someone halfway through 'Corpse in Armor'

2010-04-19T10:58:00.000-04:00

This came in last night from someone who has a very cold eye for what he likes and what he doesn’t:

wanted to let you know i’m a little more than halfway through the novel and it’s really good! I’m quite liking the what I’d almost characterize as Dashiell Hammet-esque narration style. A lot of great wit. A page turner! I’ll tell you more when i’m done. by the way, the opening is very strong, and i think if you got people to amazon first pages section, they would want to get it. cause it becomes apparent what a great read it’ll become.

That’s a good idea. You can go take a look at the first pages because Amazon has enabled that now. I should have mentioned it earlier. Just click on the cover photo that’s right there at the top left of the page for the sample reading options.

“In Corpse Us Delecti”

2010-04-12T15:53:00.001-04:00

Mike Soja, bless him, gives Corpse in Armor multiple thumbs up:

The plot??? Fast paced, unrelenting, corpse filled. The mayhem starts early and doesn’t stop, and the situation grows more dire at every dispatch. The main characters don’t sleep much and neither will you as you read along.

And I did not pay him for this review. Read it all.

Kathy Soja (”Sweet Cheeks” in the review) also sent me a note on facebook complimenting me on a job well done. She read it all in one day.

This, of course, means a lot to me. Despite his pleasant demeanor, Mike is a tough customer who is fully bullshit resistant.

'Corpse in Armor' scores with sharp-eyed flycaster

2010-04-12T08:25:00.000-04:00

I have to believe I’m doing O.K. when a member in good standing of the fly fishing demographic likes the book. John Venlet has the cold-eyed sort of skepticism that both trout and other writers can sense from a distance. So I’ve got to be pleased. Read his review here.

War theories

2010-03-30T14:23:00.000-04:00

Watch this. It’s John Arquilla and Victor Davis Hanson talking about developments in warfare with Peter Robinson. Some of the conversation is about Iraq and how things went between the invasion in ‘03 and the Surge in ‘07. Hanson makes the point that attrition played a huge role in making the Surge possible. I would add that the middle period was also needed so that the U.S. could get to know all of the customers in the saloon, so to speak.

Allow me to unashamedly segue to my thing.

I’m going to go slightly off message about Corpse in Armor, my new novel, a counterterrorism thriller. Amidst all of the action and the mind-bending story is a theory of asymmetrical warfare that seeps up through the tale and should scare the hell out of you. Much of the war-fighting takes place from a “cloud” — like the one discussed in the video with Hanson and Arquilla — but it is an even more rarefied cloud than the one they discuss. Way more software than hardware, would be a way of putting it.

This is the war we are fighting, right now. Note that one of the central characters in Corpse in Armor, Ryan Schell, spent five years in Iraq.

First reader review at Amazon

2010-03-27T12:40:00.001-04:00

Linda Morgan gives Corpse in Armor a five-star review at Amazon:

If she hadn't been so meticulous an attorney and so protective of her client, Mara Rains might never have learned about her intended role as an incidental dupe in a mind-boggling terrorist plot. She'd almost certainly have become one of its hundreds of thousands of victims.

Also says it's "fantastic" and should be made into a movie.

And there it is: 'Corpse in Armor' debuts on Amazon

2010-03-24T08:59:00.000-04:00

I spoke too soon in the previous post.

Corpse in Armor is now available from Amazon.

I'm absolutely thrilled. Amazon is the world's bookstore.

Still waiting on the Amazon release

2010-03-24T08:20:00.000-04:00

But Corpse in Armor is available right now from Amazon's cousin CreateSpace, and I do a little better there on the royalties.

The Amazon release might take another week. I'm not privy to how it works or why it works that way, but since these outfits don't get in my face, I'm not going to get in theirs, for the moment.

I understand that readers who already have an Amazon account and are familiar with their routine are not necessarily anxious to open another account with CreateSpace. But give it a ride if you're in the mood.

Stepping over the corpses

2010-03-22T10:46:00.002-04:00

One of the things I had to do to write Corpse in Armor was to step over all the corpses of my unfinished novels, which had accumulated behind a lifetime of writer's block. When I was done writing it I thanked God, first thing, for helping me get there.

And the reason I chose to use a woman narrator was to get myself out of the novel and let the characters take it over. That has to happen, but I didn't want to take any chances, so I handed the story to Mara.

It's not a schoolboy (or schoolgirl) first person narrative. Much more complex than that. I didn't want to use an omniscient third person. I wanted the horizon limits of the first person, and I wanted that to play an important role in the story. And it does.

Each purchase comes with roughly eight hours worth of squeezing your adrenals

2010-03-20T11:07:00.000-04:00

So, Mike, just be careful for about 24 hours after you're done.

Whittaker Chambers meets Vince Flynn

2010-03-20T10:48:00.001-04:00

That would be the historical nutshell description of Corpse in Armor.